Shooter / shmup (cartoon, non-graphic) game prompts for AI game makers
Dodge patterns, fire back, collect power-ups. Keep it cartoon: ships, robots and space blobs that pop rather than anything realistic.
Tips for shooter / shmup (cartoon, non-graphic) games
Ask for a small hitbox on the player (smaller than the drawn ship). It is the classic trick that makes dense bullet patterns feel fair.
Limit bullets on screen and remove them once they leave the screen, or the game slows down after a few minutes.
Describe enemy waves as a script ('at 10 s, 5 drones in a V from the top') so the difficulty curve is designed, not random.
starter
Classic space blaster
Make a vertical space shooter. The player's ship at the bottom moves with arrow keys/WASD or by dragging on touch; it fires automatically. Enemy saucers enter from the top in rows and move side to side, dropping slowly. Each saucer popped gives 10 points with a small burst of particles. Enemies occasionally drop slow bullets. The player has 3 lives shown as ship icons; getting hit makes the ship blink and be invulnerable for 2 seconds. Clear a wave to start a faster one. Starfield background, bright cartoon colours, nothing realistic.
Auto-fire and drag controls make it work on phones without extra buttons.
Follow-up tweaks
Add a power-up that gives a triple shot for 10 seconds.
Add a boss saucer every 5 waves with a health bar.
intermediate
Bullet pattern dodger
Make a bullet-dodging shmup. The player ship has a tiny visible hitbox dot (4 px) in its centre; holding Shift or a Focus button slows movement for precise dodging. Enemies fire patterns: rings, spirals and aimed streams, using simple maths per pattern. Player shots hit enemies for points. Grazing (a bullet passing within 12 px without hitting) gives +5 points and fills a bomb meter; a full meter allows one bomb (X / button) that clears the screen. 3 lives. A 3 minute stage scripted by time with a boss at the end. Remove off-screen bullets. Soft pastel bullets on dark navy.
A visible small hitbox and grazing reward turn a hard genre into a readable one.
Follow-up tweaks
Add a difficulty select that changes bullet speed and density.
Add a practice mode that loops the boss.
intermediate
Twin-stick robot arena
Make a top-down twin-stick arena shooter with cartoon robots. Move with WASD and aim with the mouse, clicking to shoot. On touch screens, show two virtual joysticks: left moves, right aims and fires. Enemy robots spawn from the edges in waves: walkers (slow), dashers (charge in a straight line), and turrets (stationary, shoot slowly). Defeated robots burst into bolts and nuts that give score. Health bar with 5 points. Every 3 waves, pick one of three upgrades (faster fire, extra health, piercing shots). Bright arena floor tiles, small screen shake on hits.
Upgrade choices between waves add replay value with very little extra code.
Follow-up tweaks
Add a dash on Space / a third touch button with a cooldown.
Save the highest wave reached.
starter
Water balloon gallery
Make a friendly target gallery game. Cardboard targets (ducks, stars, clouds) slide across three rows at different speeds. The player clicks or taps to throw a water balloon that lands where tapped after 0.3 seconds with a splash. Hit targets flip down: ducks 10 points, stars 25, golden bell 100 (rare, fast). Hitting a 'no' sign loses 20. 60 second round, best score saved. Carnival stripes and bunting, splash particles in blue.
A short throw delay adds skill to a simple tap game.
Follow-up tweaks
Add a combo: 3 hits in a row without missing doubles the next hit.
Add a wind arrow that pushes balloons slightly sideways.
intermediate
Side-scrolling submarine
Make a horizontal shooter with a cartoon submarine. The level scrolls left; the sub moves freely with arrows/WASD or touch-drag and fires bubbles with Space or automatically on touch. Enemies: jellyfish drifting in sine waves, pufferfish that inflate when shot once and need a second hit, crab mines on the floor. Collect pearls for points. Power-ups: spread bubbles, speed boost. 3 hearts. A level lasts 2 minutes and ends with a giant clam boss that opens and closes; it can only be hit while open. Underwater blues with light rays.
Giving the boss a clear vulnerable state makes the fight readable.
Follow-up tweaks
Add a second level in a kelp forest with narrower paths.
Add a torpedo special with limited ammo shown as icons.
starter
Asteroid drifter
Make an asteroid shooting game with drifting physics. The ship rotates with left/right, thrusts with up, shoots with Space. On touch: rotate buttons, thrust button and fire button. The ship keeps momentum and wraps around screen edges. Big asteroids split into two medium, medium into two small. Points: 20/50/100. Clear all to start the next wave with one more asteroid. 3 lives with 2 seconds of safe respawn. Vector-style white outlines on black.
The split rule and screen wrap are spelled out, so the classic feel comes through without naming any game.
Follow-up tweaks
Add a hyperspace button that teleports the ship to a random safe spot.
Add a small alien saucer that crosses the screen every 30 seconds.
intermediate
Turret defense blaster
Make a stationary shooter where the player is a turret at the bottom centre. Aim with the mouse or by touching anywhere; the turret fires toward the pointer. Space blobs fall from the top with different speeds and sizes; big blobs take 3 hits. If a blob reaches the ground, the city shield loses 1 of 10 points. Every 20 seconds, choose one upgrade from three cards (more damage, faster fire, split shots, slow field). Survive as long as possible; best time saved. Glowing neon city skyline at the bottom.
Card upgrades on a timer give a roguelite feel without complex systems.
Follow-up tweaks
Add a charged shot: hold to charge, release for a large blast.
Add blobs that split into smaller blobs when hit.
advanced
Co-op starfighters
Make a two-player co-op vertical shooter on one keyboard. Player 1 moves with WASD and fires with F; player 2 moves with arrow keys and fires with Enter. Ships have different weapons: P1 wide spread, P2 piercing laser. Shared lives pool of 5. If one player is hit, they can be revived by the other flying over their marker within 5 seconds. Enemies come in scripted waves for a 4 minute stage, ending with a boss with 3 attack phases that change at 66% and 33% health. Score per player and team total. Colourful cartoon art, clear HUD per player.
A revive mechanic and different weapons give co-op real teamwork instead of two solo games.
Follow-up tweaks
Add a single-player mode where the second ship is a simple computer wingman.
Add a combined special: both players press fire together within 0.2 s for a screen-wide beam.
starter
Paint splat arena
Make a top-down paint game for two players on one keyboard (or one player vs a simple computer). Each player shoots paint blobs that colour the floor tiles they land on. P1: WASD to move, Space to shoot; P2: arrows to move, Enter to shoot. Getting hit by paint freezes you for 1 second (no damage). After 90 seconds, the player who has painted the most floor wins. Show live percentage bars. Bright orange vs blue, splats leave round marks.
Scoring by territory instead of hits keeps a shooter completely non-violent.
Follow-up tweaks
Add paint refill stations; shooting uses ammo that refills while standing on your own colour.
30 fill-in master templates with worked examples, 12 multi-step build recipes (what to prompt, what to check after each step, and the fix prompt when it breaks), 40 bug-fix prompts by symptom, 20 art-direction briefs with upload tips, and a game-design + launch checklist. Markdown files, instant download.
One-time $12. Use and adapt the prompts in your own games, commercial ones included. 14-day fix-or-refund if it doesn't work as described. Secure checkout by Stripe.
Free sampler
T01 · Path defense master template (template)
Use it for: classic tower defense with a fixed route and placed towers. The most reliable starting point for the genre.
Variables
Variable
What to write
Example
{{theme}}
Setting in a few words
backyard garden
{{enemy}}
Who walks the path
slugs
{{base}}
What the player protects
the garden gate
{{waypoints}}
Path as a waypoint description
6 waypoints snaking left to right
{{tower_1..3}}
Name, price, role
Pea Shooter, 25, single target
{{start_money}} / {{reward}}
Economy
100 / 5
{{lives}} / {{waves}}
Lose and win conditions
10 / 12
{{palette}}
Visual style
flat bright greens and browns
Master prompt
Make a one-screen 2D tower defense game set in a {{theme}}.
PATH: {{enemy}} walk a fixed path through {{waypoints}} to {{base}}. Draw the path clearly. Enemies move from waypoint to waypoint and never leave the path.
BUILDING: The player clicks or taps an empty build tile beside the path to open a small menu of towers:
- {{tower_1}}
- {{tower_2}}
- {{tower_3}}
Greyed-out buttons when unaffordable. Tapping a built tower shows its range circle and a Sell button (refund 50%).
ECONOMY: Start with {{start_money}} coins. Each enemy defeated gives {{reward}} coins with a floating "+{{reward}}".
WIN/LOSE: {{base}} has {{lives}} lives; each enemy that reaches it costs 1. Survive {{waves}} waves to win.
WAVES: Waves start with a Start Wave button. Use a wave list: each wave adds enemies and +10% enemy health; every 4th wave adds a faster enemy type; the last wave has a boss with a health bar.
FEEDBACK: Enemies flash white when hit, pop into particles when defeated, and the screen shakes briefly when a life is lost.
HUD: coins, lives and wave number at the top; Start Wave and Pause buttons.
STYLE: {{palette}}, simple shapes drawn in code, no external images.
CONSTRAINTS: one HTML file, works with mouse and touch, all movement based on elapsed time, Restart button on the win and lose screens.
Worked example
Make a one-screen 2D tower defense game set in a backyard garden. PATH: slugs walk a fixed path through 6 waypoints snaking from the left edge to the garden gate on the right… Towers: Sprinkler, 10 coins, slows enemies 40% in range; Pea Shooter, 25 coins, single target; Bee Hive, 40 coins, small area damage. Start with 100 coins, 5 per slug. 10 lives, 12 waves. Flat bright greens and browns…
After the first generation, check: enemies stay on the path; towers only fire within the drawn range; selling refunds the right amount; the boss appears on the last wave.
Strong follow-ups
"Add a 2x speed button. Don't change anything else."
"Add upgrades: tap a tower to upgrade to level 2 (+50% damage) for 1.5x its price."
T13 · Classroom quiz engine template (template)
Use it for: any subject quiz you'll reuse with new questions every week.
Variables
Variable
Example
{{subject}}
Year 6 science: forces
{{questions}}
your list, pasted in the format below
{{timer}}
20 seconds, or "no timer"
{{teams}}
2 to 4 teams, or "single player"
{{reward}}
a star burst and a "Great thinking!" message
Master prompt
Make a quiz game for {{subject}}.
DATA: put all questions in an editable array at the very top of the code, clearly labelled QUESTIONS. Each item: question, four answers, index of the correct answer, optional explanation. Use exactly these questions:
{{questions}}
FLOW: shuffle questions and answer order; never repeat within a game. One question at a time with four large buttons (keys 1-4 also work).
TIMER: {{timer}}.
TEAMS: {{teams}}. If teams: show whose turn it is; correct = +10 to that team; turns rotate each question.
FEEDBACK: correct: {{reward}}. Wrong or timeout: chosen answer red, correct answer green, explanation shown for 3 seconds.
END: scoreboard, list of missed questions with correct answers, Play Again.
DESIGN: high contrast, at least 28 px answer text, readable on a projector and a phone.
CONSTRAINTS: one HTML file, works offline, no external fonts or images.
Question format to paste
Q: What force pulls objects toward Earth? | Friction | Gravity* | Magnetism | Air resistance | Gravity pulls everything with mass toward the Earth's centre.
(An asterisk marks the correct answer; the last field is the explanation.)
Check: the asterisk is removed from displayed text; explanations show for wrong answers only; teams rotate correctly after a timeout.
Ship a tower defense in 6 prompts · Step 1 of 6 (recipe-step)
Make a one-screen 2D tower defense game. Cartoon beetles walk a fixed path of 6 waypoints from the left edge to a tree stump on the right. The player clicks or taps a grass tile to place a Leaf Turret for 25 coins; it shoots the nearest beetle within 120 px once per second. Start with 100 coins; each beetle gives 5 coins. The stump has 10 lives; each beetle reaching it costs 1. A Start Wave button sends 8 beetles. Show coins, lives and wave at the top. Shapes drawn in code, flat greens and browns. Restart button on game over.
Check after:
Beetles follow the path exactly and never cut corners through grass.
Turrets can't be placed on the path or on top of each other.
Coins rise on each defeat; lives drop when a beetle reaches the stump.
If it breaks:
*Beetles leave the path:* "Move enemies from waypoint to waypoint in a straight line at constant speed; when within 2 px of a waypoint, snap to it and target the next one. Don't change anything else."
*Towers placed on the path:* "Mark path tiles as unbuildable using a grid; highlight buildable tiles on hover in green and unbuildable in red."
A cozy farm in 8 prompts · Step 1 of 8 (recipe-step)
Make a cozy farming game with a 6x4 grid of soil plots. Tap a plot to cycle: till, plant, water. Seeds: Turnip (2 coins, 2 days), Carrot (5, 3 days), Pumpkin (12, 5 days), chosen from a seed bar. A Sleep button advances the day. Watered plots grow one stage per day (3 visible stages); unwatered plots don't grow. Tap a ripe plant to harvest into a basket. Start with 20 coins. Show coins and day.
Check: crops only grow when watered; watering resets each morning.
Checklist · Core loop (checklist)
[ ] I can describe the game in one sentence: the player does X to achieve Y while avoiding Z.
[ ] The main action is fun on its own for 30 seconds, before any upgrades or levels.
[ ] Every action gives an immediate visible result.
[ ] There's a reason to do the action again (score, progress, story, collection).
[ ] The game has a clear end state for a session (game over, level complete, day end) or a natural stopping point for idle/cozy games.
[ ] I removed features that don't support the core loop.
Fix prompt: "Remove [feature]. It doesn't support the core loop. Don't change anything else."
Checklist · Mobile and touch (checklist)
[ ] The game works with touch only, without hover.
[ ] Touch targets are at least 48-64 px, with space between them.
[ ] Multi-touch works (move and jump at once).
[ ] The page doesn't scroll, zoom or pull-to-refresh during play.
[ ] The game fits portrait and landscape, or clearly asks to rotate.
[ ] HUD stays clear of notches and rounded corners.